


Flares

by Squarepeg72



Series: Out of the Box [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Research
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 04:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15789045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: Hermione leaves London to try to find her place in the world. She never expected what she found in the lab.





	Flares

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ANGSWIN](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANGSWIN/gifts).



> Prompt: Hermione has never felt like she truly belonged anywhere. Her Muggle origins and her magical abilities insured that she did not fit into either of those worlds completely. However, all of that changes when she has the chance to join the Avengers and proves that she can hold her own with them. She soon finds her niche in the world, true friendship, and even love among the rest of the world's mismatched heroes.
> 
>  
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/30425514468/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 

The wand sat on her dresser. She was packing for her trip to New York but she was not sure she should pack it. What did it mean anymore? What had it meant to begin with? Hermione stared at the wand and waited for the memories.

  
_“We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment...”_

  
Two sentences that changed her world. She went from being a bright child in her school to being a witch. She did not like the unknown and this was a HUGE unknown. What did it mean to be a witch? How was she going to fit? What was going to happen next? The unknown made her anxious. So, she researched, as much as any eleven year old can research anything. She had managed to survive the summer and feel almost prepared for the train. But, nothing can prepare anyone for running through a wall…

  
_o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o_

  
Bruce stared out the window of his apartment in Stark Tower. Flashes of his past rolled in his mind. It was not a movie he enjoyed watching, but it was the movie that was playing right now. He often wondered where he would be without the accident that had helped create his alter ego.

  
“ _The cell was just in case.”_  
_“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t. I know! I tried! I got low …”_

  
He had tried to run from his other side by helping people. He learned to control his emotions and build bridges between the thoughts and actions of his two halves. It was not easy to contain two souls in one body, but he was trying. Being a part of the Avengers had allowed him access to incredible labs and technology. But, was it worth the price? Could he continue to maintain the balance between his two sides? Was he helping the world or harming it? When he wasn’t fighting alien invasions or mad men, he was in the lab, trying to find solutions to problems he had never know existed. Somedays, it felt like he was running in to brick walls every time he turned around. Just when he thought he was staring to figure things out, the world decided to throw him another curve ball …

  
_o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o_

  
As Hermione walked into the conference room on the laboratory floor of Stark Tower, a heavy cloud of dread seemed to fill the air. She was supposed to be meeting with a Dr. Bruce Banner to discuss possible connections between power distortions that were being found in both worlds. What she found was an empty room and silence.She had done her research on him and knew his was a brilliant physicist with a variety of research projects under his belt. She also knew that he had another side that he struggled to control. Maybe he had forgotten they were supposed to be meeting today. “Ms. Granger,” a voice sounded from behind her as she looked around the room. “I am sorry Dr. Banner was not here to greet you. I’m Tony Stark. If you will follow me, I will take you to the mighty green one.”

  
“Oh, hello, Mr. Stark.” Hermione tried to catch her breath as she turned to face the new-commer. “You startled me. Thank you.”

  
“Please, call me Tony.” he replied, with a flourish of this hands towards the door. “I am looking forward to seeing what you and Dr. Banner can discover with my money.”

  
“Hopefully, answers to some very puzzling questions.” Hermione watched her escort cautiously. “Your money? I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Ministry were funding this as a joint venture?”

  
“Not to worry, Ms. Granger,” Tony replied as he placed his hand on a panel on the wall beside the door. “I just hope you and the big guy get this thing figured out.”

  
Hermione followed Tony through the door and into the bright space of the lab. “Bruce, you in here?”

  
“I’m back here, Tony,” a voice drifted from a bookshelf at the back of the lab. “I just wanted to run another test before this new person got here. What’s her name again?”

  
“Hermione Granger.” Hermione stretched out her hand to greet the rather rumpled man who emerged from behind the bookcase. “It seems as though we had a mix up in our times. Dr. Bruce Banner, I presume.”

  
“I’m sorry,” Bruce reached out to return her greeting. “I tend to lose track of time when I am working on something here. Tony was supposed to remind me an hour before.”

  
“I told Pepper,” Tony shrugged and started to back out of the lab. “Well, I’ll leave you two to your work …”

  
Hermione and Bruce shook their heads as they watched Tony try to escape the lab. “I have some thoughts on what is causing the power flares in New York and Yellowstone, but I am finding no connections to the events in London, Paris, or Sydney. I have Jarvis running some algorithms for me to …”

  
Hermione was watched Bruce walk away from her as he continued to talk. He gave new meaning to the scattered but brilliant scientist. She followed his voice to a large panel covered in calculations and maps.

“What are you looking for? How does all of this work?” Hermione continued to watch the panel light up ad Bruce touched and moved information around on the panel.

  
“Right now I am just looking at the timing of the events and the the three hours before and after each event,” Bruce continued to shift information around on the panel.

“Jarvis, is the timing of the drop in power in an hour before the London event found anywhere else?”

  
“Let me check that for you, sir.” Hermione was startled by the smooth voice that emerged from the ceiling. “Hello, Ms. Granger, My name is Jarvis. How may I assist you?”

  
“Dr. Banner, who is that?” Hermione scanned the room for another presence, but could find no one. “What kind of spell have you used?”

  
“Oh, that’s J.A.R.V.I.S. Tony’s butler, nanny, and research assistant,” Bruce answered, distractedly. “I feel like there is something here that I am missing. Call me Bruce, please.”

  
“So, what can he do?” Hermione asked softly, pointing at the ceiling. “Is he some kind of computer program or spell or something.”

  
“Madame, I am a highly functioning, Artificial Intelligence Interface. I am connected to all of Mr. Stark’s business as well as a vast collection of information sources,” The voice floated down from the ceiling. “I will strive to find the spells you are looking for, but my access to the magical world is limited.”

  
“Thank you. Searching for a spell will not be necessary.” Hermione stopped searching the ceiling and turned to the information filling the panel in front of Bruce. “Is this small rise in power before Paris anywhere else?”

  
Bruce’s hand flashed over the panel dragging information into different boxes and watching number change. “You could be on to something. Look at the timing on the first Yellowstone event…”

  
“But, the flare doesn’t happen in London …”

  
“Look at the the drop before New York. There is a small flare before the drop …”

  
“Where is that flare in the DC timing…”

  
Hermione was amazed by how quickly she and Bruce were finishing each other’s thoughts. She had worked well with Ron and Harry but they had never seemed to fit together so seamlessly, so quickly. She felt at home in this lab with this man. “Hermione, I think I found a drop before the small flare in every event…”

  
She stepped under Bruce’s arm to get a close look at the information he was manipulating on the panel. “Bruce, you are fantastic! Now all we have to do is set a tracker to atlert for the small dip.”

  
Hermione stretched up on her toes and kissed Bruce on the cheek. “This is bloody brilliant. Now all I have to do is find a tracking spell that will work with the magical component…”

  
Hermione’s thought was cut off by the touch of Bruce’s lips to hers. “I think we have worked enough for now. I have some other ideas I would like to discuss with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment...”  
> \- Hogwarts Admission Letter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
> 
> “The cell was just in case.”  
> “In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t. I know! I tried! I got low …”  
> Nick Fury and Bruce banner (The Avengers, 2012)


End file.
